


Shiro no Exorcist

by maplepancakes



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe, Generation Swap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-06-19
Packaged: 2017-12-06 06:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maplepancakes/pseuds/maplepancakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We are defined not by the speeches we make or the actions we take. Words of praise and tales of our greatness do not describe who we truly are. Who we are is what we do when no one is watching.</p>
<p>So what kind of man will Shiro grow up to be, when nobody is watching what he does?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Child and the Exorcist

**Author's Note:**

> 'Generation swap' is something I was introduced to via another fandom. Basically, you switch around the parents and children, or grandparents and children, or even older siblings and younger siblings. The characters who used to be adults are now children, while the children are suddenly the adults.
> 
> I've been toying around with this idea for some time now, and I decided to go ahead and write it. This fic is decidedly Alternate Universe, with the swap having happened from the beginning rather than the 'Freaky Friday' approach. Most of this fic will be focused on Shiro's experiences, but from time to time things will be from Rin's point-of-view.
> 
> Keep an eye out for the end of chapter notes, if there's any interesting mythology or name-jokes I'll be putting explanations for them there.

 

_I can't do this anymore. Please take care of him for me._

_  
_

Rin found himself reading over the note again, and he even flipped over the notecard to check and see if anything else was written on the back. A name, an address, anything. The inspection turned out to be pointless, though, as card was completely blank, save for those two sentences. It was a short note, but it got the point across clearly enough.

With careful movements, Rin lowered the card so he could look over the top of it. The boy in front of him was tiny, even for an eight-year-old. The duffel bag at his feet looked comically oversized compared to him, and it was a wonder he had even managed to drag it all the way here. Or maybe he was dropped off, Rin thought to himself. There was no way a boy like this could make it this far into the city by himself, and he wouldn't have known where to go anyway.

Honestly, he had no idea what to do. Just barely past thirty, Rin had never really interacted with kids that much. He was single, with no kids of his own, and he wasn't a teacher like Yukio was. The most time he ever spent with kids was the odd afternoon of babysitting for one of his many friends with kids, or filling in at the academy when one of the cram school teachers was sick. It hardly qualified him for the sudden responsibility of taking care of a third-grader.

The boy met his gaze, despite how scared he must have been. He was trying to hide his fear, but his mask of indifference wasn't as complete as he was trying to make it. No matter how much this kid tried to stand up straight and act all brave, Rin could still see the fear in his eyes, even behind those large glasses that partially obscured his eyes with a reflection of light.

Well, if this boy was going to put up a brave front, Rin could do the same.

After hastily sliding the notecard into his pocket, Rin crouched down to the boy's level. "Well then," he said, "You're gonna be staying with me for a bit."

The boy nodded tersely. Rin continued, saying, "I'll be honest, I don't have much here, so it might be kinda boring. But there's a park nearby, and there's a lot of kids living in this area, so I'm sure you'll make friends quickly."

At the mention of friends, the boy glanced away quickly, but he nodded again. Rin caught some movement out of his eye, but it was only the boy clenching his hands into fists, so Rin let it go. "Do you remember my name? I think I told you, the last time we met."

Once again the boy nodded, but this time he spoke as well, saying "Okumura" in a quiet voice, and a moment later he hastily added "San" to the end of that. Rin smiled in return, and he said, "That's right. You can call me that, if you want."

Another nod. Talking with this boy was going to be like pulling teeth, he could tell. "Now what was your name again…? Fujimoto, right?"

"Fujomoto Shiro," The boy answered, speaking slightly louder than before. The pattern in the floor must have been very interesting, since he was staying intently at it right then.

"Ah, right, I remember now! Well then-" Rin stood up then, and he held a hand out to Shiro, "Let's work together, Shiro."

Finally Shiro looked up a Rin once more, his eyes narrowing slightly as he furrowed his eyebrows. He must have been thinking intently about something, because he was quiet for a few seconds, leaving Rin standing there awkwardly as he waited. He was about to pull his hand back when finally Shiro nodded one final time, and he reached out to grab Rin's hand.

It wasn't a perfect start, Rin said silently to himself, but it would do.


	2. Words That Define a Man

"Hey guys, look who it is!"

Shiro groaned in disgust as he heard that all-too familiar voice. He had been hoping to have a nice, quiet Sunday afternoon, free of the usual torments he experienced on school days. He wasn't even anywhere near his usual stomping grounds! But no, somehow jackasses one through five had found him all the way on the other side of True Cross town.

He really shouldn't have given any indication that he had heard them, but he couldn't stop himself before he glanced over in their direction. Just as he had thought, the usual group of troublemakers was there, but they also had some girls with them today. Maybe they would just let things go.

"Heeeey, Ghost-boy! Come over here!"

Nope. Of course he couldn't be that lucky.

It was better to ignore them, they usually went away if he acted like he couldn't hear them. He would have just walked away, but he was stuck on the train, and he didn't have enough spare change to exit and re-enter at the next stop. So he quickly looked down to the brochure in his hand as he turned up the volume on his music player, hoping to drown out their taunts. He was four stops away from his destination, so he just had to endure this for a little while longer.

A moment later, he felt a strong pat on his back, clearly meant to hurt but disguised as a friendly back-pat. Another hand yanked his earbuds out, and he caught the tail-end of some fake-friendly banter.

"-in our class, 3-A. He's the resident ghost-magnet."

Those words got a giggle from all the girls, and Shiro realized that his chances of escaping this encounter quickly were dwindling. Normally girls at least had the sense of mind to be uncomfortable about guys causing trouble, and their fidgeting would get the guys to leave him alone. Apparently they had found shameless girlfriends for the day, though.

Angry-eyebrows was the one leading the assault today. He usually did, he was by far the most confident of all the boys, and he had no trouble with man-handling Shiro when he felt like it. He also had been given a bloody nose seven times already, and Shiro had quickly learned that his face was as unforgiving as his personality.

Shiro took a step away from the boy who had yanked out his earbuds as he said, "I'm busy, leave me alone," in the flattest, most neutral voice he could muster. He couldn't show them that he was bothered by this, it would just make them bother him more.

One of the other boys—the one who had bleached his hair and had gotten written up for it—snatched the brochure out of Shiro's hand. Shiro had to fight to keep his hand still, he wasn't about to react and grab the brochure back from them. Instead he moved to grab the handrail with his now-empty hand, so that he was holding on with both hands instead of just one. If his hands were full, he couldn't use them to punch people.

 The blond boy read over the front of the brochure, and a grin spread over his face as he said, "True Cross Academy? What, you think a broke-ass kid like you is gonna get in?"

Shiro said nothing. No answer he could give would be the right one.

"You know, I heard that school is haunted," one of the other boys said, "Maybe that's why Ghost-boy here wants to go there, he wants to meet up with his long lost family!"

Everyone around Shiro laughed at that comment while Shiro tried his best to keep his hands firmly on the handrail. Don't rise to the bait, he told himself, they want a fight, they're just pushing you until you burst, and it will just cause trouble for Okumura-san. This isn't anything new, just ignore them. He had to keep repeating this to himself just to keep from shaking too badly.

Shiro wasn't one to let others fight his battles for him, but this was more of a slaughter than a fight. His record had some nasty spots on it, and he couldn't afford to mar the pages anymore, not if he wanted to chase after his dreams of finishing school and finding a great job. So he found himself swallowing down the urge to punch one of those assholes in the face, and instead he tried to silently will an adult into existence to come and chase these guys away.

"Look at him, he's dumbstruck already! Never mind about the money, he doesn't have the brains to get into a school like that."

"With all his ghost-chasing he probably doesn't have time for studying. Could he even pass the entrance exam?"

"Now come on guys, you're being too tough on Ghostie here. I'm sure he could get into True Cross."

That was surprising. It came from the one short kid, who was always quiet while his friends belittled Shiro. Maybe this guy had a conscience after all.

Shiro chanced a glance at that boy.

"Yeah, they still need lunch aides there."

And just as quickly he looked back at the train floor again. Shiro could feel the heat rising on his neck as the laughter echoed all around him. He was a fool to think that anyone would stick up for him, he was too easy of a target. Of course his silent prayers would never be answered, all he could do was endure the harsh words and hope that they would get off at the next stop, he wasn't sure he could last through four more stops of this bullshit.

"Excuse me."

The laughter died quickly there. That was a new voice, one Shiro hadn't heard before, and when he looked up again he found that everyone else was staring just as he was. The intruder was a teenager, like them, but he was very clearly a foreigner. His pronunciation was alright, but his accent was heavy and easily gave away the fact that he was not from Japan. Of course, that was secondary to the fact that he was a bond-haired, blue-eyed, obviously European-looking person, which made him seem even more out of place than his words did.

In that moment, between the foreign boy's interruption and the aftermath of said intrusion, Shiro noticed that this foreign kid seemed to exude way more confidence than he would have expected.  

All eyes fell on angry-eyebrows, the leader of the group of tormenters. Now that they had been presented with an outside force, one they had probably never been confronted with before, the followers quickly looked to their leader for guidance. Angry-eyebrows scowled at the foreign kid, and he said, "What do you want?"

"I couldn't help but notice how you were mistreating this boy," the foreigner said. He spoke slowly, carefully enunciating his words so that he could be understood, but somehow it didn't make him seem slow or stupid. Well okay, he had to be stupid to stand up to a group of thugs like this, but the way he carried himself made up for what he lacked in verbal prowess.

"So," Angry-eyebrows spat out, "It's none of your business!"

"It is very much my business," the foreign kid said in response, "You cannot cause trouble like this and expect others not to get involved."

That got a sharp laugh from angry-eyebrows. "What others? I don't see anyone else getting involved, do you?"

Shiro already knew what the answer would be, but he looked around anyway. There were other passengers on the train, but they were trying their best to act uninterested in the confrontation. This didn't seem to faze the foreign boy, though. If anything, it made him more insistent. "Then I am the one who will speak out against it. Leave him alone."

"Oh yeah?" Angry-eyebrows leaned in, bringing his face very close to the foreign boy's. "What are you going to do about it?"

The foreigner just stood there, hands on his hips like he was a superhero or something. It looked absolutely ridiculous, and Shiro probably would have laughed at it if not for the fact that shit was probably about to go down. "Then I'll stop you myself."

That time, all of the boys laughed. Shiro wanted to go hide somewhere, anywhere, just to get away from this situation. The kid was making himself look like a fool, and he was inviting trouble.

Bleached-hair-kid was the one to speak this time, though he spoke to the group leader instead of to the foreign kid. "This kid is hilarious! I think we should give him a nice, warm, 'True Cross town greeting', what do you think?"

Uh oh. Now there was trouble.

All of the other boys were nodding eagerly as they looked to angry-eyebrows. As if on cue, the announcement for the upcoming station  played over the speakers, which just nudged the group in the direction they were already headed. "Alright," Angry-eyebrows said.

As soon as the doors opened, two boys rushed forward, grabbing the foreign boy by either arm. The other three followed after, subtly ushering the boy off the train, and the group of girls followed after them.

For a moment, Shiro considered just letting them go. That guy had earned the wrath of a group of troublemakers all on his own, and Shiro wasn't obligated to save his ass. He could have just looked away and kept on going, pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary. It wasn't his fault that boy had stepped up and gotten involved in something that didn't have to do with him.

But then he would be just like everyone else, wouldn't he?

Cursing to himself, Shiro let go of the handrail and bolted off the train, just barely sliding between the closing doors.


	3. A Man that Defines his Words

Shiro reached up and gently poked at his lips. There was a raw split running through his upper lip, which would probably need stitches by the end of the day. It looked like the bleeding had slowed down, though:  only a few traces of blood stuck to his fingers when he pulled them away to inspect.

He ran through a mental checklist as he poked and prodded at himself. No broken bones, thankfully, but he had probably bruised at least one rib. His glasses were done for, he'd need to bug Okumura for another pair. His left eye was swelling up, and already it hurt too much to open. His clothes were filthy, and little cuts and nicks here and there bled onto his white shirt. It was going to take a lot of bleach to clean.

All in all, it was one of the better outcomes. Definitely a tie in his books, even though they had been outnumbered.

Shiro glanced over at the foreign kid. He was laying on the ground next to Shiro, staring up at the sky. Shiro could see the beginnings of a black eye, and there was a nasty cut on the kid's forehead. He hadn't gotten quite as dirty as Shiro had, despite the fact that he had been thrown down a muddy hill. The water from the river must have washed away most of the muck. But even so, the kid looked a bit out of it, and Shiro was worried he might have a concussion. "Oi, you alright?"

The foreign boy didn't answer the question. Instead he said, "That was a very one-sided fight."

The kid's words got a shrug out of Shiro as he said, "They're assholes, they don't fight fairly."

"Mmm." If the guy wasn't concussed, then he must have been deep in thought. Maybe having his ass kicked in a foreign country was a bit much for him? Shiro didn't particularly care about this guy's potentially shattered vision of Japan, he was more interested in his motives.

The silence stretched on for a while, with Shiro sitting on the bank of the river and the foreign kid laying there, watching the clouds. It gave Shiro a chance to think about what had happened, and as he mulled over the events in his mind he realized that this kid wasn't as terrible at fighting as he had thought. Between the two of them, they had fought to a draw with five guys. Shiro wasn't _that_ good, so the kid must have been some help.  He had a mean right hook, at least. Angry-brows would be sporting a shiner for at least a week.

Finally, Shiro spoke up again. "Why did you get involved?"

"You looked like you needed help." The answer was stated so plainly that Shiro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he looked over at the kid again. That confused look got the kid to say more, and he added, "I don't like bullies."

"I wasn't being bullied," Shiro said, speaking almost a little too quickly.

The kid frowned, and he turned his head to the side so he could look at Shiro more fully. "What do you call it, then, when a group of boys surround you and say mean things?"

"I call it 'them being assholes,'" Shiro answered, looking back to the river now. He was scowling, but it was out of frustration rather than anger. Why did everyone insist on calling those guys bullies? They were jerks to everyone, bullies only ever targeted one person.

"Well then they were being assholes at you, and I don't like assholes," The kid said. Now it was his turn to ask the same question. "Why did you get involved? The, ah…" the kid trailed off there, and belatedly Shiro realized he was trying to think of the right words to use. "After the part on the train, the second time."

Shiro shrugged. "You stuck your nose where it didn't belong, so I figured I would do the same."

That got a laugh from the boy. "We are the same, then."

Shiro wasn't so sure he liked being compared to a crazy foreign kid, but he decided to let it go for now. This guy had just saved his butt and fought beside him all in the same day, even though they were strangers. He deserved a little leeway.

The kid finally pulled himself up, but he flinched and held an arm to his chest as he did so. Maybe he had some bruised ribs too, Shiro thought to himself as he glanced over at him. This kid definitely wasn't a weakling, though. He was taking the injuries like a champ, even if he was showing the pain on his face.

"This is going to be hard to explain to my brother," the kid admitted, "He didn't let me go into the city to get into fights."

So this kid had a brother, then. "Did you move here with him," Shiro asked.

The kid looked up at Shiro with such a surprised look that you would have thought Shiro had grown a second head. "How did you know?"

"A lucky guess," Shiro said with a grin, "You practically told me yourself anyway. A kid who lives with his parents would be more worried about what his parents thought."

The kid deflated a bit when he heard that. Shiro wasn't a magic mind-reader, the illusion of mystical powers had been broken. "Oh."

Shiro still wanted more answers, so he kept prodding at this kid. "So you moved here with him. Why?"

"He works at True Cross Academy," The kid said, "I came here with him to go to the cram school."

"Cram school?" That seemed like an odd reason to move to an entirely different country. Didn't other countries have cram schools too?

Somehow Shiro's question had left this kid even more mystified than before. Shiro wasn't sure what he had said, but something within this boy changed quickly. "You…don't know about the cram school? I thought you were going to attend the academy for it!"

Shiro shook his head. "My guardian, he went to True Cross Academy. That's why I'm thinking of going there. I don't know anything about a cram school, he never told me anything about it."

"But you can see ghosts, right?"

Shiro didn't answer that question right away. He did see _something_ day in and day out, there was no denying it. But Shiro didn't know if there was anything actually there or if he was just imagining things. It was hard to know for sure when he was literally the only person at his middle school who could see the masses of black smoke that lurked in the halls, or the little green imps that hid in the second floor bathroom. He had only mentioned them once, and the name-calling and rumors had stuck with him for several years. Shiro had long since learned to deny knowing anything about ghosts, even when he could be seen reacting to intangible shapes running through the halls.

"…It's just a rumor," Shiro found himself saying, "Those guys, they make up crap to make me seem weird. I don't see anything besides what's normally there."

For some reason, those words seemed to hurt the foreign boy. For a brief moment, there was a hint of pain in his eyes, like Shiro had just said something spiteful to him. But it was quickly covered up, and the boy sighed as he carefully stood up. "I guess I was wrong, then," he murmured to himself, though Shiro could overhear it.

Once he was standing, the foreign boy offered a hand to Shiro to help him up. "My name is Arthur Auguste Angel. If you get into True Cross Academy, then we will be classmates."

Shiro was sure he looked absolutely dumbfounded as he tried to figure out how to pronounce that name. The kid's accent didn't help, either. "En…jeru? What?"

The kid huffed dramatically. "Just call me Arthur, if it's so hard to pronounce."

"Arthur." That was much easier to pronounce, that was true. It still didn't sound completely correct when Shiro said it, but it wasn't as horribly mangled as Angel had been.

Finally Shiro took Arthur's hand, accepting his help as he stood up. Up on his feet, he said, "I'm Fujimoto Shiro. Since you said to use your first name, I guess you can use mine too."

That jab got a small smile out of Arthur. "Shiro, then."

With the sun beginning to set, the two boys would have to head home soon. Their first meeting was rapidly approaching its end, but Shiro had a feeling that it wouldn't be their last.

As a final send-off, Shiro said, "Well then, I'll see you at the opening ceremony." It didn't matter that he hadn't even taken the entrance exam yet: he was going to True Cross Academy, no matter what it took. He was going to find out more about this Arthur person, as well as the cram school he had mentioned.

Arthur nodded in return. "I'll be expecting you there, so don't disappoint me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angel's home country is never revealed in canon, but I did some research into his family name history.
> 
> Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was pretty common for immigrants to have their names changed when they arrived in America. Names with very complicated spellings or pronunciations were shortened to much simpler ones to save on time and paperwork. This was often done by the clerks at immigration, probably because they had to process thousands of people a day and just didn't have time to make sure each name was spelled correctly. 
> 
> Several surnames from Hungary, Italy, and Germany have pronunciations similar to Angel, which would explain why there's such an abundance of Angel-families in the U.S.A. It's possible that Angel (the character) could have come from any of these countries, but given that canon spells out his name as Angel (as opposed to Angelo, Angelus, Angyal, or any of the other 'close but not quite' spellings), I thought it would be more plausible for Angel to be from America, and that some generations back his family had a slightly different surname which was changed when the immigrated to America.
> 
> So yeah, Angel is going to be American-born until canon says otherwise.


	4. Rejection

Rin gave a friendly wave to the mailman as he turned to walk back into his home. Normally he wasn't home during the day, so it was rare for him to catch the mailman like that. He had been on break the last few days, though, so he had been able to get the mail as soon as it arrived. 

As he walked up the stairs to the third floor of his apartment building, Rin glanced through the letters. Bill. Junk mail. Bill. An advertisement from the grocery store they went to frequently. A letter from Shiemi, probably about the shipment he has asked her for-

"Well hello, what do we have here?"

Stopping on the stairs between the second and third floors, Rin pulled out the letter from the stack and moved it to the top. It was a letter from True Cross, but it was addressed to 'the parent/guardian of Fujimoto Shiro.' A grin appeared on Rin's face as he tucked the other letters under one of his arms, so that he could open this particular letter. Shiro had been getting high school acceptance letters left and right, but he had taken the late exam at True Cross, so they had been expecting that letter to come late. Maybe seeing Rin's name on Shiro's paperwork had made them speed up the process.

Rin didn't waste any time trying to carefully open the envelope. He just ripped off one side of it and slid the one-page letter out. He unfolded it, read it, and then read it again. Slowly the grin disappeared from Rin's face.

After reading a certain paragraph in the letter one last time, Rin folded up the letter and slid it back in the envelope. Then he buried it in the pile of mail, and he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. After a few moments he started up the stairs again, and by the time he was at the door to his apartment he was back to his usual cheerful and carefree attitude.

"I'm home," he called out as he opened the door to the apartment. Since the school year had ended last week, Shiro was at home that day. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, reading through some kind of Jump magazine. He looked up at Rin over the top of his magazine as he said, "Anything for me today?"

"Nope," Rin said as he shut the door behind him. He then set the mail down on a nearby table as he kicked his shoes off and slid off his coat. "Sorry kiddo, no news from them yet. But don't worry, you've got another week before you have to say for sure what school you're going to, so it could still come in time."

Shiro had been growing anxious. All of the other schools had sent him acceptance or rejection letters before the school year had even ended. He was cutting it close, waiting this long to pick one to go to for sure, but True Cross was the one he really wanted to go to, which was why he was waiting for that letter.

Rin didn't really understand why Shiro was so dead-set on that school. He had never told the boy about the real reason for True Cross, so as far as he knew it was just one of many high schools in the city. Maybe it was because Rin had graduated from there, and Shiro wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Nah, that wasn't it, Rin thought a moment later. Shiro made his own paths in life; it wasn't like him to follow in anyone's shadow. There must have been another reason.

With his coat and shoes off, Rin picked up the pile of mail again and moved to the kitchen to sort it. The bills (with the letter from True Cross carefully hidden within them) were tossed into the bill pile, and all the advertisements were dumped in the trash. Rin kept only the letter from Shiemi in his hands, which he started to open as he talked again. "Have you decided on a school yet?"

Shiro, who had returned to his magazine, shook his head. Without looking up, he said, "I'm not deciding until I hear from True Cross."

"You must have a backup in mind," Rin said casually, "A second-favorite, maybe? That one over by the train depot wasn't too bad, it looked like a new building and-" 

"I'm going to True Cross," Shiro said decisively.

"If they accept you," Rin reminded Shiro, "You did go to the late exam, so they're going to look at your application last."

Shiro put down his magazine and looked over at Rin. "Do you think I won't be accepted?" Even though it was worded as a question, it felt more like a statement, as if Shiro knew that Rin knew something.

Rin quickly busied himself in reading through his letter, saying only a quick, "Nah, it was just a thought," before falling quiet. The letter confirmed what Rin had thought, his shipment had arrived. He would have to go out tomorrow and pick it up, he wouldn't make it before the shop closed today.

Even though he read through the letter quickly, he pretended to be reading it for longer, to try to get Shiro to forget about what Rin had said and return to his own things. Rin definitely didn't want to break the bad news to Shiro right away, he would rather ease the kid into it. Maybe if he could find out why Shiro wanted to go to True Cross so badly, he could convince him that other schools offered the same thing.

Finally Rin folded up the letter and looked back over to Shiro. He had gone back to reading, but the magazine was a bit lower than before, and Rin could see Shiro glance over out of the corner of his eye after a couple seconds. Rin quickly looked away when he saw that. Instead of talking, he grabbed a glass from the cupboard so he could get himself a cup of water. He had lived with this kid for seven years now, but somehow it still was difficult to talk with him.

With a full glass in hand, Rin finally spoke again. "Why are you interested in True Cross anyway?"

Shiro didn't answer right away. It was Rin's turn to glance at Shiro out of the corner of his eye, and he saw the kid staring down at the pages in front of him. But it didn't look like he was reading, his eyes weren't moving. He must have been thinking about his answer. It was the most thought Shiro had shown in a while, so Rin didn't interrupt his thoughts, and instead he took a drink from his glass.

Finally Shiro said, "I want to go to the cram school."

Rin nearly choked on his water. He abruptly set the glass down as he fought to keep himself from coughing up the mouthful of water he had started to swallow. It burned as it went down, but at least he hadn't made a visible mess. 

Once he was sure he wasn't going to spit water out everywhere, Rin said, "The cram school?"

Shiro nodded. "That's why it has to be True Cross: no other school has that cram school."

Rin's mind raced. There was no way Shiro could possibly know what the cram school was. Rin had never talked to Shiro about anything involving demons, so how could he possibly know? Shiro hadn't come home with demon-related injuries in years, so he had assumed that the demons had learned to leave him alone. With no demons bothering Shiro, then it shouldn't have mattered if Shiro could see them or not. He hadn't asked Rin about it since he was ten, so Rin had always assumed Shiro had given up on it.

No, Shiro couldn't have known about the true nature of the cram school. It had to be something else.

"Other schools have cram schools," Rin suggested, trying to come up with some kind of answer to give Shiro, "If you're that worried about your academics, then we can find you some after school programs pretty much anywhere."

Shiro sighed. He closed his magazine and tossed it on the table. "I know what the cram school at True Cross is for," he said. As he spoke, he sounded like someone who had been forced to give up their trump card, and he didn't sound too happy about it either. "I'm not stupid, you know. I know what your job is, I've seen your uniform before. I still remember everything that happened that one time, too."

"…ah." Well then. Maybe Rin was wrong to assume that he had hidden everything from Shiro. The damn kid was too smart for his own good.

By now Shiro was standing up. He was still painfully short, the top of his head barely reached Rin's shoulder. He was always going to be short, but he carried himself like he was twice the height he actually was. Despite his shortness, he had confidence in himself.

"The cram school teaches people to do your job, right," he said, and for the first time during the conversation his words actually sounded like a question, "If so, then I want to enroll in it."

Rin sighed. All of his efforts were quickly going down the drain. Still, he managed to chuckle a bit as he said, "You know I spent years trying to protect you from this, right?"

Shiro didn't answer that. Instead, he continued to look up at Rin, as if he were waiting for a real answer. Finally Rin said, "Alright, I get it. You really want to go to True Cross."

Surprisingly, it was easy for Rin to accept this turn of events. But once he had accepted it he realized that he was going to have to work his magic to make sure it happened.


	5. Acceptance

_"Yes, Okumura speaking."_

"Yukio~"

_"…Nii-san. What is it?"_

"What, no friendly greeting?"

_"You only ever call me when you want something."_

"That's not true, we talk all the time!"

_"Nii-san, I'm very busy. Unless it's something important-"_

"Fine, fine, I'll get to the point. I need a favor."

_"I figured as much."_

"That kid I'm watching, you remember him, right?"

_"I believe so, yes. Fujimoto?"_

"Yeah, that's him. He needs to get into the academy."

_"Did he take the entrance exam?"_

"Yeah, but-"

_"Did he get an acceptance letter?"_

"See, that's the thing…"

_"Nii-san, I'm just a teacher here. If you want to talk admissions, you'll need to address the admissions office or talk to Mister Faust."_

"I can't talk to the admissions office, and I sure as hell ain't talking to that rat. I need YOU to do this."

_"Listen, I'm sure he's a good kid, but I'm not going to use my influence like that-"_

"Just listen to me! He wants to go to the cram school."

_"…"_

"And before you ask, I didn't tell him about it. He found out on his own. I don't know how, but he did."

_"So he knows what it's for?"_

"Yeah. Apparently he wants to be an exorcist."

_"I see."_

"And he can't do that if he's not a regular student too."

_"Shiemi did."_

"But Shiemi was a special case, and she started school eventually anyway. You know I can't just drag him over for cram school every day. He needs to be a regular student too."

_"…alright. I'll see what I can do."_

"Thanks, Yukio. You're the best."

_"That's another thing you only say when you want something."_

"No it's not. And by the way, I'll be up there tomorrow anyway, so I'll just stop by for lunch-"

_"Goodbye, Nii-san."_


	6. Out on His Own

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity for Shiro. Since he had gotten his acceptance letter so late, he barely had time to get everything ready before the start of the school year. This wasn't like in middle school, he would be living in a dorm and taking care of himself, so he had to get everything ready before the move-in day. Even with Okumura's help, he just barely made it in time, and he had actually finished packing the morning he was supposed to move into his room.

Shiro had lived in True Cross town all his life, so he didn't have to travel nearly as far as some of his classmates did. Still, the train ride from Okumura's apartment to the dorms took about an hour and a half, and by the time they arrived it was well into the afternoon. Freshman orientation was at 5, and a quick glance at his watch told Shiro that he had just slightly over an hour until then. Perfect timing.

He hadn't brought much with him, and between him and Okumura they were able to carry all of his things up the stairs to the fourth floor of the dormitory in one trip. Thankfully he had put off getting his schoolbooks, so they had less to carry right now, but he would have to bring them all later by himself, unless he got a friend or a roommate to help him.

"414…414…" Shiro muttered his room number under his breath over and over again as he walked down the hall. He had his duffel bag slung over his should and a large box in his arms, so he may have been hurrying a bit to get to his room and finally be able to set it down. With everyone moving in that day, he didn't have space to stop in the hall to readjust his grip on everything. 

"414…Oh, here it is."

Shiro stopped in front of one of the doors. It was near the end of the hall, with only two more rooms until they reached the staircase at the other end of the hall. Looking back in the other direction, Shiro could see Okumura struggling to get past a pair of boys who were moving into a room further down. "It's this one right here," he called to him before turning back to the door. Shiro shifted the box to his left arm and used his free hand to slide the door open. 

The room itself wasn't that large, but it had been expertly laid out to make the best use of the space. Against either wall was a bed and a closet, and the far wall where the windows were had two desks shoved up against it. In-between the two desks was a large, two-sided bookcase, angled in such a way that it gave a small bit of privacy. There was also a chair, which was tucked away under the desk, and a single light hanging from the very middle of the room. All in all it wasn't much, but it would work.

But while Shiro's side was bare, the other half of the room was completely settled into already. It was nice and neat, but the bookshelves were full and the desk was covered in supplies. There was also a case of some sort tucked under the bed, though Shiro couldn't quite make out what it was. Possibly a suitcase of some sort, he reasoned. The only thing absent from the room was his roommate.

"So this is it," Okumura asked suddenly, spooking Shiro a bit. Looking over his shoulder, he could see that Okumura had finally made it there, and was peering into the room as well. It wasn't that hard for him to do, he had a good thirty centimeters in height on Shiro, who could only hope he would catch up by the time he was an adult. 

Shiro nodded in response, and he looked forward again so he could watch where he was going as he stepped into the room. He set his box down on the bed, happy to be rid of the weight, and soon the duffel bag joined it. Okumura followed suit, though he placed his bags on the desk instead of the bed. "It looks nice," Okumura said as he stood up straight again, "Way better than the dorms I had to live in when I went to school here. It's good that they finally replaced those drafty old things."

The rest of Okumura's reminiscing was lost to Shiro, though. Since he was closer to the door, he could hear the sounds of boys talking in the hallway. He probably would have ignored them, if he hadn't heard what they were talking about.

_"Why did that guy's dad come along? Is he so much of a baby he can't come alone like everyone else?"_

_"Shut up, they'll hear you!"_

_"It's stupid, that's all I'm saying. Wait until Shima sees that he got the daddy's-boy roommate. I bet he doesn't last a month here."_

Already he could feel the all-too familiar burning in his chest, even as the boys walked down the hallway to wherever they were going. And here he thought he could get away from this petty bullshit by going to another school. Clearly there were assholes everywhere, and Shiro was just walking asshole-bait.

"You don't have to help," Shiro said suddenly, "It's not like I can't handle it or anything."

"What's this all of a sudden," Okumura said. He had been looking out the window at the view of the street below, but now he was looking back at Shiro with a confused frown on his face.

Shiro hated these questions. Normally he could come up with some one-off answer that would get people off of his case, but Okumura was different. He pried into other people's business too much, and even a simple comment got the '20 questions' routine. Even worse, the looks Okumura gave him felt like they could pierce through his soul and see the truth behind his words. He had to think about his responses before he spoke. "Nobody else has a-"

He stumbled on his words for a split-second; Okumura wasn't his dad, so it would have been awkward to him if he had said 'parent' there. "-an adult helping them, so it's kind of weird for you to just stand here like that."

The frown didn't leave Okumura's face, though he now was looking at Shiro instead of out the window. "Shiro, what have I always told you? 'we are family, and-'"

" 'And family helps family,' I know," Shiro said, interrupting Okumura to finish his sentence, "But I don't _need_ help, I can handle this on my own." But even as he finished his words, he found himself looking away. He never had trouble talking back to other adults, so why was it so hard to look Okumura in the face when he was trying to stand up for himself?

For a moment it looked like Okumura would argue with him. He opened his mouth, ready to say something, but he stopped himself. Instead he sighed and looked away, rubbing at the back of his neck as he did so. "Fine, fine," he said finally, "I'll let you be. But call me if you need anything, alright? Our home isn't that far from the school, so I can come by anytime."

"I know," Shiro said.

"And you can call anytime, day or night. Even if it's the middle of the night, I'll still answer." Okumura was being insistent about these points, and it was more than a little irritating.

"Geez, I know already," Shiro responded, letting a flash of irritation show through.

It didn't faze Okumura, though, who just kept going. "You have everything, right? Your clothes, your toothbrush-"

"Yes, now just go! I've got this!" Not wanting to prolong this anymore, Shiro let go of the strap of his bag and ran to get behind Okumura and push him out the door. "Everything's good, bye now!"

But instead of getting Okumura to leave faster, it just made him laugh. "Alright," he said as they both stopped at the door.

Before Shiro could shut the door in his face, Okumura turned around to face him one last time. The frown was gone, and it was replaced by an amused look. Fitting, since he had just been laughing at Shiro's antics and all. But it just made Shiro's ears burn as he tried his best to scowl up at Okumura. This was important to him, damnit! Why wasn't Okumura being respectful of his wishes?

It was Okumura who broke the silence. "Relax, you'll do fine," he said, "You've already grown so much, you're more than ready for this. Just take things one step at a time, alright?"

Somehow, those words were reassuring to Shiro. He hadn't even realized how tense he had been, not until Okumura had said those words. His face relaxed, the scowl fading from it, and as he calmed down he realized that his hands felt funny, so he glanced down at his palms. Two red marks, each the size of the strap on his duffel bag, ran across his palms lengthwise. 

Had he really been gripping the strap that hard?

As quickly as he had looked down, he closed his hands into fists and looked back up to Okumura. But he had looked up just in time to see Okumura reach over and ruffle his hair. "Augh! Knock it off!"

That got a grin from Okumura. "Just stay out of trouble, alright? Trouble seems to find you everywhere you go, so there's no point in inviting more."

Shiro stepped back and away from Okumura's hand. Now that he was safely out of hair-rustling distance, he was free to speak more boldly. "I don't go looking for trouble anyway! And just you watch, I'm gonna be the best student at this whole damn school, just to show you how much trouble I don't get into!"

Oh, that just made the laughter flow from Okumura. Shiro didn't think it was funny, and he turned beet red and was about to yell at his guardian some more, but Okumura spoke up again before he could blow his top. "Is that so? I'll be waiting to see how well you do, then."


	7. That's kinda weird, isn't it?

"It is an honor to welcome so many bright students to our fine academy this year. Over the last seventy years, True Cross Academy has sought to educate the best students the world can offer-"

This had to be the most boring speech Shiro had ever forced himself to sit through. He had to fight to keep himself awake, and a quick glance around told him that he wasn't the only one struggling through the monotone voice. What's worse, the room didn't have a clock and Shiro couldn't risk glancing at his cell phone to figure out just how long he had been sitting here listening to this windbag. Several students had already had their cell phones confiscated, and Shiro didn't want to lose his.

"-With high goals such as these, I must stress the importance of staying focused on your studies. A boy is not made into a man overnight, and you will need to cultivate yourselves to reach your true potential. Furthermore-"

Shiro stifled a yawn. He had to be careful; the upperclassmen supervising them were unbelievably strict. Why did they think it was a good idea to shush someone for just shifting in their chair? It wasn't like he meant for the chair to squeak or anything. They were completely unreasonable.

The one closest to him also shot him a glare, which Shiro returned by making a face at him. They were near the back of the auditorium, it wasn't like the speakers up front were going to see anything they did.

"-Some of our former students have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, and even politicians. As long as you put forth the effort, you can eventually become a productive member of society too-"

Without warning, a crumpled up ball of paper landed in Shiro's lap. He jumped a little in surprise, though he managed to keep himself from drawing too much attention to himself. He quickly grabbed the ball of paper and hid it in his hands, hoping that nobody had seen that. Glancing up, Shiro saw that the upperclassman that had been bothering him was busy bothering another student. Good, nobody had seen this.

A quick look around told Shiro where the ball of paper had come from. A familiar blond foreigner was sitting about four rows up and three seats over from where Shiro was seated. As soon as Shiro caught sight of him, he gave Shiro a thumbs-up. In return, Shiro raised an eyebrow at him and mouthed 'what' silently at him. Then Arthur gestured to the ball of paper that Shiro was holding, which prompted Shiro to look down at it.

It looked just like a normal ball of crumpled up paper. Shiro turned it over in his hands, trying to see what was so important about it, but it just left him more confused. Once again he looked up at Arthur, trying to convey 'what the hell do you want' with only facial expressions. For a moment it didn't look like he would be successful, since Arthur just kept pointing down to the ball of paper. After a couple moments, though, he finally did another hand gesture which Shiro quickly figured out was Arthur miming for him to open the ball. So Shiro looked down again as he uncrumpled the ball and found a short note.

_Shiro-_

Shiro's eye twitched involuntarily. Arthur had used the wrong kanji for his name. He had to fight the urge to crumple the paper back up again and throw it back at that idiot.

_Shiro-_

_You made it! Let's eat lunch together tomorrow._

_-Arthur Auguste Angel_

"Seriously," Shiro muttered to himself. Was Arthur really so desperate for friends that he would pass over a note in the middle of the opening ceremonies?

Apparently Shiro wasn't the only one to notice the note. The two girls to his right had taken an interest in the note, and they were peeking over Shiro's shoulder to see what it said. Shiro didn't realize this was happening until one of them spoke up, whispering, "Arthur…is that the foreign student?"

Shiro quickly crumpled the paper up as he looked to the two girls. The upperclassman was further away, so he could whisper to them without getting caught. "Yeah, I guess so."

One of the two girls gave him a look as she said, "Is he a friend of yours? Are you really going to eat lunch with a weird kid like that?" The other didn't speak up, but she nodded along with her friend, clearly disapproving of Arthur's behavior. It looked like Shiro was already at the center of a scene, even when he had been trying to behave himself. And now these two thought that Shiro was friends with him!

Yeah, there was no chance of that happening. 

Shiro tossed it on the floor, not paying any mind to the shocked look Arthur gave him. He had a feeling he would be paying for that later, at the cram school, but he could deal with that later. For the time being, he had bigger things to worry about than one guy's feelings.

"No way," Shiro said, putting a quick end to any rumors before they could begin, "I don't even know the guy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't obvious, Shiro cares very much about what other people think about him, even if he says otherwise. This isn't a problem for him in canon, but he's also almost fifty years old in canon. All teenagers are self-conscious to some degree, so I figured the best way to show that would be to have Shiro subtly change his behavior to fit with what others expect of him. He'll eventually become more like the Shiro we know in canon, who gives no fucks about what others think, but he has to grow into that.
> 
> Also, Shiro's name has two kanji in it. The first means 'lion' and the second is a counter for sons, making his name 'lion son' or 'little lion'. Counters (as in, words that are used for counting objects) are pretty popular, especially in boy's names. Just look at the Shima family: the suffix 'zou' is present in all of their names, so you get names like Juuzou, Kinzou, and Renzou. With the Shima family, however, the second kanji in their names isn't only a counter kanji, it also has a meaning of its own. (See the next chapter for more information on it.)
> 
> Having a counter word in your name doesn't necessarily mean that you have brothers or sisters, though. For example, Shiro could be the first son, and if his parents had given birth to more sons his brothers might have had 'ro' at the end of their name as well. Incidentally, this is how I'm playing it in this fanfiction.
> 
> In the note Arthur wrote, he used the kanji for 'white', which is also pronounced 'shiro'. This is a sensitive topic for Shiro, since it was used mockingly about him (ghosts dress in all white, the guy who can see ghosts has a name that sounds like the word for white, haha bullying do you get it now?) and he has to correct people frequently about it. This is a thing that will come up again at some point, so I wanted to put the explanation for it here so nobody's lost when it comes up again.


	8. White and Gold

After the ceremony, Shiro returned to his room to unpack. Okumura was long gone, he had left for home hours ago, but Shiro hadn't done any unpacking before he had left. That was the consequence of arriving to school so late in the afternoon. They really should have left earlier, Shiro was not looking forward to all that work.

When he returned to his room, he found that he wasn't alone. His roommate was there, sitting at his desk while he went through some books. The sound of Shiro opening the door made him look up, and he smiled as he set his things down. "Hey there," the other boy said as he stood up, "Sorry I missed you earlier, my older brother needed some help moving his things into his room."

This kid looked pretty normal, thankfully. His black hair was a little long, and it was held back with barely-visible hairpins on either side of his head. It looked kinda girly, but not so much that it crossed the line of tastefulness. His clothes looked well taken care of as well, which told Shiro that this kid took care of himself, though Shiro would have been able to guess that from how clean their room had been when Shiro had first arrived earlier. He seemed pretty calm too, which was good because Shiro didn't know if he could handle an energetic roommate.

Shiro smiled. "It's alright, I arrived pretty late," he said, "I'm Shiro Fujimoto, from True Cross Town."

"Ah, a local kid," the teenage boy said, and he held out his hand for a handshake as he said, "I'm Kinzou Shima, from Kyoto."

"Kyoto, hmm? That's pretty far away," Shiro said as he took Kinzou's hand and shook it.

"Not as far as some people," Kinzou stated, "We've got some classmates from other countries. One of them is even an American!"

Shiro had to fight to keep from making a face there. "Yeah…I heard."

"It's pretty exciting," Kinzou said, seemingly unaware of Shiro's momentary stumble. He let go of Shiro's hand and stepped aside, so that Shiro could enter the room. "Do you need some help unpacking? Juu-nii helped me earlier, so I have time to pass on the favor if you want."

"Nah, it's alright," Shiro said, and he turned his attention to the bags and boxes on his side of the room. It wasn't that much, really. He could manage it on his own.

It seemed like he wasn't the only one to notice how little Shiro had brought either. "There's not much there," Kinzou commented, "Are you sure you have all your things?"

Once again, Shiro found himself waving someone off that day. There really were a lot of people involved in his business at this school. "I'm gonna pick up whatever else I need after classes tomorrow," he said, "We won't need books or anything on the first day."

"You'd be surprised," Kinzou said, "They weren't kidding when they said this school was hardcore. And good luck if you join any clubs, you're going to have like no free time whatsoever. I'm already involved with a club, and they warned me ahead of time that I'd be out late every night."

Shiro was about to make a wise crack about that, but he was struck by a thought. He wasn't going to be in any clubs, he realized suddenly. Not with cram school every day. Damn, there goes the chance of meeting a cute girl through a club. His dreams of high school were quickly being crushed. 

Instead of moping about it, he just started with his task of unpacking. "What club," Shiro asked, trying to sound curious even though he really didn't care."

Apparently Kinzou cared about it, though. He was all too willing to talk at length about this club. "It's the paranormal research club! They meet every day, which is kind of unusual for a club, but it's one of the reasons I decided on this school."

"You decided to go to this school for an after-school club?" Shiro actually stopped unpacking his things so he could look up and give Kinzou a confused and judging look. Seriously, didn't they have paranormal research clubs in Kyoto?

"Hey, I said it was ONE of the reasons," Kinzou said defensively, "All of my brothers and sisters went here, so of course I had to go too. It's kind of a family tradition."

"So it's family tradition and a club," Shiro said flatly. It still sounded dumb to him. Family tradition was pointless, why bend over backwards to appease someone who would just end up abandoning you eventually anyway? 

He didn't say that out loud, though. He didn't want to make a bad impression on his roommate during their first meeting.

Kinzou still got huffy at Shiro, even if Shiro was holding back for Kinzou's sake. "Don't say it like that, it makes me sound stupid!"

"Well…" That was teasing, though. Shiro did think Kinzou was being stupid, but he wouldn't say it out loud. Teasingly saying it, however, was free game. 

It also got a reaction out of Kinzou, who just huffed and turned away from Shiro. "You wouldn't understand anyway," he said decisively, and he returned to the books on his desk.

Shiro had the feeling that Kinzou was the one who didn't understand. Even ignoring the family crap, paranormal research was a silly club. Kinzou was lucky, he didn't know what was actually out there. He seemed kind of weak, seeing a demon would probably make him piss his pants. No, it was better that Kinzou was involved in a silly club instead of the cram school. He would be safer that way.

But in a way, Shiro was kind of jealous of Kinzou. He was jealous of all of his classmates, really. This was going to be a normal high school experience for them. They could worry about silly things like clubs and classes and who was going out with who. Shiro had so many more responsibilities, and he had the feeling that he was going to miss out on a lot.

Shiro sighed to himself as he went back to unpacking. Even though he was surrounded by hundreds of other boys his age, he felt alone here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from Shiro and Kinzou's names. You already got the explanation for Shiro's name, so here's one for Kinzou's.
> 
> Kinzou has 2 kanji in it: The first means 'gold'. It more refers to literal gold and wealth, but it can mean the color as well. The second kanji actually means 'to build' or 'to make', as in creating something. Interestingly enough, it's present in the names of every member of the Shima family, kind of like how counters can be used in male names, but each time it takes a slightly different meaning. For Kinzou, his name can translate to 'casting a coin'.


	9. Yuki-onna

The nice thing about going to a new school was that you got a fresh start. Most of Shiro's former classmates had not gotten into True Cross, and the few that did weren't the ones who had given him such a hard time. Neither Kinzou nor Arthur were in his class either, they were in 1-C and 1-A, respectively. So without any familiar faces in his classroom, Shiro was able to blossom in ways he hadn't been able to before.

Actually, Shiro really enjoyed being in class 1-F. He had expected it to be full of punks and losers, since it was the last class of the first-years, but everyone was surprisingly well-behaved. They weren't necessarily the brightest bunch, but they were friendly enough. Shiro figured it was because they had all just barely made it into the academy, and they were grateful to just be there. Even the potential troublemakers were toeing the line, since they knew how close they had come to being rejected.

Shiro was happy to find that most of his classmates were very friendly. His white hair attracted their attention, but they were curious about it, rather than being scornful. They were so interested, in fact, that a small group had formed around him during the break between math and history.

"Fujimoto-kun, do you dye your hair," asked Noriko, a girl who sat to the left of Shiro.

"Nah," Shiro answered, deciding to go with an honest answer. No need to make them all think he was some kind of yankee or something on the first day. "It's natural."

This made the girls around him even more interested. They scooted a little closer and leaned in, anticipating a story of some sort. "How do you have such light hair," another girl, Kyoko, asked, "I've never heard of white hair being natural!"

That was where Shiro's words became less truthful. There was no way he could tell them about how he had gone grey early from the stress of seeing demons from such a young age. "Well, my family isn't exactly normal. You see my dad is human, but my mom…"

He trailed off there, pausing just long enough to entice the girls to lean in even closer, like they were about to be privy to a great secret. Only then, when they were super-close to him, did he finally say, "She is a Yuki-onna," in a hushed whisper.

The quiet was quickly disturbed by Mei, an exchange student who sat in the front row, but who had moved back to talk to Shiro. "EEEEEEH?! A Yuki-onna?!"

"Not so loud," said Ayaka the girl with the pixie cut who sat right in front of Noriko.

The warning came too late, though. As Mei clamped her hands down over her mouth, one of the boys near the front of the room (who had half-turned around in his chair at some point, Shiro suddenly realized) said, "Stop telling such tall tales."

"What, you think it's not true?" A smirk appeared on Shiro's face. "You better watch out, or I'll freeze you solid where you sit!" Then he wiggled his fingers at the boy as he said "ooooooh!" in a fake-spooky voice.

The boy just rolled his eyes. "Oh, grow up already! We're in high school!"

Shiro just laughed. "Aright, alright," he said, "My mom's not a Yuki-onna."

The girls around him looked almost disappointed, and the boy smiled with smug self-satisfaction. However, the smirk hadn't left Shiro's face, which was a good indication that he still had something up his sleeve.

"But my grandmother is."

The roar of laughter from all the students, both male and female, overwhelmed the boy's voice as he tried to reprimand Shiro. And all Shiro could do was lean back in his seat and be proud of himself for that little moment.

Yep, he really was going to enjoy this school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Yuki-onna -** A Yuki-onna is a demon who takes the appearance of a beautiful young woman with long black hair and very pale skin. Her behavior varies from legend to legend, but what most of the stories have in common is that she appears on snowy nights and freezes people with her breath. Also, because of her pale skin and white kimono, oftentimes people only see her hair and face. You can read more [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki_onna) if you want to find out more about the Yuki-onna.
> 
> But why would Shiro say being related to a Yuki-onna causes his white hair? Mostly because it's a myth associated with snow (and snow is white, like his hair) and it's one that most people would have heard about. I could have had him go more obscure with the mythology to get something that does have white hair, but I didn't want to have to write out him explaining it to everyone. The story flows better if the characters get the references Shiro is trying to make. 
> 
> He will get called out on it later, though. Poor Shiro just happens to be surrounded by people who know more about demons than him.
> 
> **Yankee -** In Japan, delinquent students are sometimes called Yankees. They're the ones who skip class, dye their hair, cause trouble, that sort of thing. Being considered one is not really a good thing when you're trying to make a good reputation for yourself, which is why Shiro is trying to avoid causing too much trouble (beyond harmless pranks and jokes) at the academy.
> 
> Also, unless specified otherwise, all of the characters in Shiro's class are made up for this story. There just aren't enough known adults in Ao no Exorcist to fill up an entire class of 30+ students with. The cram school will be different, obviously, but the regular classes will be filled with background character OCs.


	10. Cram school 1

Shiro was beginning to think that finding the cram school classroom was a test of some sort. He had been wandering the halls of the school ever since classes had ended, trying to find this damn classroom. He had almost an hour between when day classes ended and cram school stared, he should have found it with no trouble! But here he was, five minutes before the cram school started, and he was still lost in one of the many halls of the school.

Shiro squinted down at the key in his hand. It was on a long chain, but most of the time he kept it in his pocket rather than around his neck. " 'Use this,' he said," Shiro muttered to himself as he tried to glare the key into nonexistence, " 'It will take you to the cram school,' he said. Well guess what, Okumura. Your 'helpful advice' does jack shit for me if you _don't tell me where the fuckin' class is!_ "

He continued to grumble to himself as he shoved the key back into his pocket. A key was useless if he couldn't find the right door for it. The time until class was ticking away, and complaining about his predicament wouldn't solve it. He would have to solve this problem on his own.

After a couple more minutes of searching, it became clear that 'solving the problem' meant 'calling Okumura for clarification.' He was about to give in and make the call, but before he could dial the number he heard a door open. Looking up sharply, he just barely caught sight of a door being pulled shut. With nobody else around, and no after-school activities yet besides the cram school, Shiro figured he had stumbled upon either his destination or the teacher's lounge. And with time so short, he figured he might as well go see for himself which it was.

Shiro walked down the hall to the door, and he was about to open it, but he suddenly remembered the key. So he pulled out the key, slipped it into the keyhole, and turned it. There was a click, and the door slowly swung open.

The classroom was a lot older than he had been expecting. With how new and fancy the regular classrooms were, he was a little surprised to see the worn desks and stained chalkboard. Then again, with only three other students there besides himself, it really shouldn't have been a surprise. Why waste a full classroom on such a small group?

One face Shiro recognized right away, He had been expecting that, of course, he had already known that Arthur was going to be in the class. But the other two students, both girls, were new to him. One was standing near the front of the class—probably the one from the hall, Shiro reasoned. She had long black hair, which was very wavy but in a natural-looking way, and deep blue eyes that seemed to peer deep into a person's soul. Despite that, she seemed soft around the edges, like she was a gentle person despite her piercing gaze. She didn’t look like she was entirely Japanese, though maybe at least one of her parents was? Shiro wasn't sure, but she was cute at least.

The other girl, who was sitting in the front row, seemed to be the exact opposite of the first girl. Her hair was long as well, though it was done up in a complicated bun of some sort. She had an air of refinement to her, and her face had a strong, proud look to it. Shiro would have thought he was looking at a princess if he hadn't known any better.

All three of them looked at Shiro as he opened the room, but it was Arthur who spoke first. "Shiro! You made it after all! After you missed lunch, I thought you had skipped classes all together."

Shiro grinned. "Yeah, well, you made such a persuasive argument that I couldn't just forget about it. I had to come."

Arthur grinned in response, matching Shiro's look. "Getting in is the easy part," he said, sitting up tall in his seat, "Now you have to make it through the cram school without dying."

"Don't be so dramatic," said the blue-eyed girl suddenly. Her hands were on her hips, and she was giving Arthur a disapproving look. "Demons aren't that dangerous. Besides, the teachers wouldn't let us die like that."

Arthur was about to utter some kind of protest, but the girl rounded on Shiro and continued on, paying him no mind. "Are you going to come in already," she asked in the same sassy voice, "We have one more coming, and he can't get in if you keep hogging the door like that!"

Shiro raised an eyebrow at the girl, and then he half-turned to look behind himself and out the door. An empty hallway was all that met his gaze. "There's nobody there."

"You're so stupid!"

Shiro had been in the process of turning back around when the girl grabbed him by the arm and dragged him in, nearly knocking him over and pulling his arm out of socket (that's how it felt to him, at least) in the process. Then, with her free hand, she reached out and pushed the door shut.

Exactly five seconds—five long, quiet seconds—passed, and then the door was flung open again. "I'm sorry! I was trying to get here, but the key wouldn't-"

Shiro just stared at the newcomer. "…Shima?"

His confusion was equally met. "Eh? Fujimoto-kun? You're in here too?"

Shiro stared at Kinzou for a moment longer, then he looked to the girl. All she said was, "See? I told you so," before letting go of his arm in a rather forceful manner and turning to walk to her seat.

Shiro frowned as he stood up fully and rubbed at his shoulder. That girl was a lot stronger than she looked.

Beside him, Kinzou laughed. "Making friends already, I see."

"Oh shut up," was Shiro's only response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next technically go together. I only broke them in two to make things flow a bit better.


	11. Cram school 2

By the time the teacher arrived, everyone had settled into a seat. The two girls were on the left side, near the front, with the long-haired girl sitting two chairs over from the girl with the bun. Arthur was front and center, like a perfect angel of a student. Kinzou had decided to go with the middle ground, taking a seat near the center of the right side of the class.

Shiro, on the other hand, was way at the back of the class. There wasn't a crowd of students he could disappear into like in a normal classroom, but he still liked to have a view of everything going on. It was easier to feel like he had some control of the situation when nobody was hiding behind him.

When the teacher walked in, Shiro did a double-take. For a moment there he could have sworn he had just seen Okumura walk in, despite how little sense that made. A second look told Shiro he had been imagining things. This man wore glasses, and there was no way Okumura would comb his hair that nicely. Still, the resemblance was uncanny.

"God afternoon," the teacher said once he had sat his books down on the teacher's table, "It's good to see you're all here. Let me be the first to welcome you all to the exorcist cram school. We have a small class this year, but I think you will do fine, even without lots of classmates."

"Now then, to start our first day, let's do some introductions. These will be your classmates for the next three years. You will work with each other, rely on each other, and come to trust each other, but first you need to get to know each other. I'll start us out: I am Okumura-"

It looked like Shiro was right about that family resemblance. Shiro hadn't even known that Okumura had any family members, let alone that one of them worked at the cram school. Why hadn't he told him this?

"-and I have been teaching at the academy for nearly twenty years now. My daughter will be in your class as well."

At that, he indicated to the long-haired girl, who in turn stood up and faced the rest of the class. "I'm Okumura Yuri. I'm fifteen, and I just started at the high school this year, though I've lived here all my life." Then she smiled proudly, and she added, "I also think demons are our friends, and if we work together we can understand each other and put an end to the fighting between demons and exorcists."

"Yes, thank you," Okumura-sensei (Shiro was going to have to remember the honorific, to distinguish between this Okumura and the one he knew from home) said, perhaps speaking a little too quickly. Yuri shot him a look, and then she huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms in front of her as she sat down. 

Maybe Shiro had been wrong before about who was the 'princess'.

Okumura-sensei looked out at the rest of the class, and he said, "Now then, who would like to go next?"

Arthur took that moment to stand up. Shiro hadn't noticed until just now, but Arthur looked upset about something. Shiro wasn't sure what could have angered him, it was just a class introduction, and he was usually so cheerful and energetic. Something must have really ticked him off. 

"I am Arthur Auguste Angel," Arthur said, speaking loudly and proudly, like he had to give the best introduction, "I am also fifteen years old, and I have come from America to study here at True Cross Academy. And unlike miss Okumura here-" at which point he shot a less-than-friendly glance at Yuri, "- I think we cannot ally ourselves with demons. They are the enemy of mankind, and they cannot be trusted!"

Then he sat down before either of the Okumuras could tell him off. He sat there stubbornly, arms crossed in front of him and nose turned upward in an attempt to snub Yuri. That made Yuri even more huffy, and quickly she matched him, making it very obvious that she was snubbing him as well.

Shiro groaned as he rubbed at his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. It was only day one, and already there was infighting.

After several more moments, Kinzou cleared his throat and said, "I guess I'll go next."

He stood up, and he continued. "I'm Shima Kinzou, sixteen. Just had my birthday a few months ago. I'm from Kyoto, and I've got a huge family: four older brothers and two older sisters. The next oldest above me, Juuzou, is a second-year here. And that's it for me, I guess."

Kinzou sat down, and Shiro looked to the last remaining girl. She had turned to look at Shiro as well, and she quirked her head to one side, almost as if she were silently asking Shiro who should go first between them. Shiro nodded once to her, and she gave him a slight frown. That frown was quickly replaced by a pleasant smile, though, as she stood up and addressed the class. "My name is Suguro Torako," the girl said, "I a sixteen years old, and I come from Kyoto as well. I was wedded to my husband last summer, and I will be returning to Kyoto to serve as both his wife and an exorcist once I have finished school. I hope we can all get along over the next three years." Then she gave a polite bow before sitting down.

As soon as Torako was done, All of the attention was focused on Shiro. There wasn't any chance of him delaying this any further, so he figured it was time to go ahead and do this. But he took his sweet time standing up, making a show out of pretending that he really didn't care about all of this. He had to be cool from the start, nobody would believe a cool act if it suddenly appeared later. 

Shiro took in a slow breath, and then he said, "Yo. I'm Fujimoto Shiro. I'm from around here, and I turn fifteen next month." He stopped there for a moment and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…what else could I tell you about me…" 

Then he gave the class a wolfish grin. "Oh yeah! My grandmother is a Yuki-onna."

Unlike before, saying that same line here got mostly lackluster reactions. Kinzou and Arthur seemed to be the only ones who even looked like he might possibly believe it, which said more about them than it did about Shiro's storytelling abilities. But while Kinzou seemed to be almost impressed, Arthur looked positively frightened. He looked ready to bolt out the door at any moment, and given what the guy had said earlier about demons, Shiro fully believed that Arthur was scared of them. Of course he would take Shirou seriously here and end up terrified of him.

But Yuri and Okumura-sensei had matching looks of disapproval on their faces, which almost looked like the ones Okumura gave him back home whenever he had gotten into trouble. And while Okumura-sensei just sighed and rubbed at his temple, Yuri spoke up. "Oh come on," she said, standing up in her spot so she could look even more indignant as she spoke, "If you're going to lie like that, at least make up something believable! You don't look anything like a demon!"

"What," Shiro said, doing his best to act like Yuri's words were wounding him, "You think I'd lie about something like that?"

"If you were part demon, then you wouldn't be coming into this school last-minute," Yuri said defiantly, "And you certainly wouldn't be this ignorant about the way the world really is! Yuki-onna have _black_ hair, not white!"

"My, what an excitable bunch of students we have this year," Okumura-sensei said, suddenly butting into the conversation. His words were spoken nicely, but they still felt like they had a hint of ice to them. "You'll have more time to get acquainted later. For now, let's get settled and go over the expectations for this class."

With the discussion basically over, everyone settled down to listen to Okumura-sensei. Shiro, however, was still puzzling over the group of classmates he had ended up with. A young bride? A strange foreigner? The teacher's daughter? Would this bunch really be able to fight against demons someday?

Regardless of how good they got, Shiro had already written them off. They were all too soft. Shiro had seen what an exorcist does, so he knew that nobody here would be able to handle it.

Nobody, that is, except him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! Now I can finally add the rest of the names to the character tags without it being a spoiler.
> 
> **Names -** Since there are going to be multiple characters with the same family name (there will be Shimas and Okumuras everywhere), I decided to refer to the classmates by their first names in the narrative, even if Shiro calls them something different when he speaks. It's mostly to keep track of the important characters and not mix people up.
> 
> **Yuri -** Yuri is listed by her name in canon in the tags, but her last name will remain 'Okumura'. 
> 
> **Torako -** Originally I was going to have Bon's dad be Shiro's classmate instead of his mom, but then I realized that Yuri would be the only girl in the class, so I decided to switch it up. Tatsuma will appear eventually, but not as a student.
> 
> Actually, most of my choices in this chapter can be summed up as 'because reasons' and they will become clearer later. Suffice to say, there are good reasons for all the choices I made here.


End file.
